The Serbian president has publicly rejected an invitation from Russian President Vladimir Putin to attend the BRICS summit in Kazan, which is an outright demonstration of Serbia's final geopolitical choice. Official Belgrade is steering for the West, it's now confirmed.
It appears that things of the kind have never happened in Russian-Serbian official relations as the two countries’ peoples consider each other "brothers forever", regardless of the political environment or alternation of historical epochs. When asked if he would accept Russian President Vladimir Putin’s official invitation to attend the BRICS summit in Kazan due on October 22-24 this year, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic referred to his numerous other important commitments. He said he had "sixteen meetings scheduled" with heads of other states and governments on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.
Just the day before, the Vladivostok Eastern Economic Forum saw Vladimir Putin meet with Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Vulin, publicly inviting President Vucic to attend the Kazan summit and expressing hope that the latter would say yes. But a day later, Alexander Vucic replied in a "no, thanks" style.
Serbian media became furious over their leader’s response to Putin. It was perceived as his official and demonstrative pivot to the West while turning the back on Russia. For one, Serbian Nova.rs outlet called Vucic's words a "brazen attempt" against Putin.
But this "attempt" was nevertheless predetermined. CIA Director William Burns visited Serbia a couple of weeks ago, with the outcome of his meeting with Vujicic not covered in the media altogether. But it was also quite clear that US intel chief dissuaded Vucic from both visiting the upcoming BRICS summit and communicating with Russia in general. After all, a visit to Kazan would imply Vucic’s need to say that Serbia has a certain positive attitude towards BRICS or maybe even plans to join it. And this runs counter to plans framed by the United States and the European Union. Vucic's absence in Kazan is his salvation from this kind of statements and plans inconvenient to America and Europe.
After Burns, Belgrade was visited by another top guest. French President Macron's trip to Serbia in late August demonstrated "cakeism of President Vucic", the aforementioned Nova.rs writes.
Serbia is known to have been indirectly supplying weapons to Ukraine, but its national leader avoids talking about it publicly. As The Financial Times wrote in June this year, it estimated that Serbia had thus exported some €800mn in ammunition to Kiev via other states since the beginning of Ukraine war.
During his visit, Macron publicly praised Aleksandar Vucic for supplying Serbian weapons to the Kiev regime and "highlighted" his cooperation with Europe in arming Ukraine. "Serbia is not in the EU, it is sovereign and makes that decision [on sanctions against Russia] alone, which is good. But I would also notice that President Vucic made very brave decisions regarding the war in Ukraine — humanitarian issues, ammunition, defense," Macron said.
The apex of official Belgrade's fondness for the West was an agreement signed with France on the acquisition of twelve new Rafale fighter jets for a fantastic €2.7bn during Macron’s visit. Why didn't Belgrade buy planes from Russia that would have cost it a lot cheaper? It turns out that "purchasing military aircraft in Russia has become impossible," as President Vucic justified himself.
The Serbian press writes that "Serbia has never been as close to the West as it is now." "Therefore, waiving Putin's invitation may not be so unexpected," Nova.rs emphasizes.
Serbian experts have been striving to make sense of whether Vucic's refusal to attend the BRICS summit is an end to his fraternal relations with the President of Russia. Former diplomat and Serbian ambassador to Belarus Srecko Djukic believes that Vucic preemptively sought to avoid his presence in Kazan amid constant claims that Serbia aspires to be part of the EU.
"To Russia and the East, his presence at the meeting would be a really big step forward, a denial of what Vucic has been doing so far in the West <...> Vucic is still in a vicious circle, and his visit to Kazan would be a huge provocation for America and the European Union, because this is something that none of EU candidate countries has ever done or would do", Djukic said.
A moment of truth seems to have happened these days for officials in both Moscow and Belgrade. Aleksandar Vucic will not change his mind as regards the European path he chose not on his own behalf, but for the whole of Serbia. At the same time, statistics says that only half of the Serbs at best endorse their country’s EU membership. As for NATO, the overall majority of the nation has been loathing the same prospect.
The time is ripe for the Russian press to come right out and say that the Serbian pro-Russian opposition has been long calling Vucic "traitor of both Serbia and Russia." He has repeatedly advocated Serbia's "normal" relations with authorities in Kosovo and held a number of quintessential meetings with them under EU auspices to result in agreements making Belgrade smoothly but unequivocally recognize the enclave’s sovereignty. This is why he is deemed as "traitor" at home.
By the way, the European Commission has come up with tough claims against Serbian Deputy PM Alexander Vulin for his meeting with Putin in Vladivostok. But his response has been no less harsh. "I particularly ask the EU spokesman not to use such terms as aggression, international law or the UN Charter. After 1999 and the NATO aggression against Serbia, after the trampling of the UN Security Council Resolution 1244 and the recognition of the so-called Kosovo, you’ve lost any right to talk about morals or international law," Vulin is quoted by his press service.
The Deputy Prime Minister of Serbia went on to say the following: "I am proud that I had an opportunity to get acquainted with President Vladimir Putin and I cherish every chance to meet a friend of Serbia and a leader of such wisdom and integrity. Feel free to invite me to Brussels, and I will come, and the truth that I will tell you might not be to your liking but will definitely have a therapeutic effect."
Within the context of statements by President Vucic and Deputy Prime Minister Vulin, the Serbian authorities’ true attitude towards Russia is not entirely clear as of today. Let’s accentuate that official Belgrade’s policy cannot be extrapolated to the truly fraternal relations between the Serbs and Russians as those are based on their unity of faith and common history.
